Dive Brief:
- Just over a month after being acquired, social resale marketplace Poshmark laid off less than 2% of its employees, a company spokesperson confirmed via email.
- The layoffs, which were first reported by TechCrunch, were enacted largely because Poshmark recently became a private company again, according to the spokesperson.
- Some employees impacted were in the finance, accounting and human resources departments after their roles were deemed no longer necessary. Poshmark’s LinkedIn page currently says it employs “over 800 employees located around the world.”
Dive Insight:
For the resale platform, the round of layoffs stems from a need to restructure amid a variety of factors.
“We made the difficult decision to reduce the size of some of our teams to better align with our priorities for the future, the current economic climate and our return to being a private company,” a Poshmark spokesperson said in a statement, “We are incredibly grateful for the contributions of the talented people in the roles that were impacted.”
The latest news comes after Poshmark was officially acquired for $1.2 billion by South Korean internet company Naver in early January. At the time, Naver said that Poshmark would maintain its employee base. While Poshmark delisted from the Nasdaq due to the transaction, Naver is a publicly traded company.
When Naver closed its acquisition, it said in a press release that the two companies would focus on increasing conversion rates, improving engagement and discovery, and becoming a leader in livestream commerce.
Competition across the resale industry continues to grow. The topic dominated at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference last month, with presenters saying it offers opportunity amid an uncertain economic environment.
Direct-to-consumer children’s apparel brand Hanna Andersson launched its own resale site last week, and Kate Spade New York did the same in partnership with ThredUp earlier this month. J. Crew, Canada Goose and Francesca’s all launched their own resale programs in January as well.
